The fact that Ellen White was growing old was no secret. Simple chronology made this evident. When the year 1912 dawned she was in her eighty-fifth year. The marvel to acquaintances, church leaders, and her family was her ability to continue to produce. In early January she wrote:
There will be one more book--that dealing with the Old Testament history from the time of David to the time of Christ [Prophets and Kings]. The material for this book has been written, and is on file, but is not yet put into shape. When this book is completed, I shall feel that my work is finished. Yet I can hold my pen as firmly today as I have done in years past.--Letter 4, 1912.
Book production pressed hard because of the awareness that her years were running out. She followed with keen interest the developments at the new medical college in Loma Linda--insisted, in fact, on being there for major administrative meetings in the spring and fall. She entertained the hope of traveling east once again to take part in evangelistic work in the city of Portland, Maine, and she was ready to accept speaking appointments at nearby churches. This was on condition that if, on the day of the appointment, she lacked the strength for the effort, either W. C. White or D. E. Robinson would take the pulpit.
"She is trying to grow old gracefully," wrote her son, "and she is succeeding much better than I thought it possible.... She accepts the fact that she is growing old in a very sensible, philosophical way."--WCW to AGD, August 26, 1912. But growing old she was, and William wrote to Edson on February 18, saying:
Mother is gradually growing weaker. She cannot read as constantly as heretofore, and she writes but little.... Mother sometimes speaks of going to Portland this summer. But Sara and I are hoping that you will come to California in May or June and that this will present to Mother abundant reason for not planning to go east this summer.
This was written just three days after Ellen White had signed her "last will and testament," a document that held considerable significance.
The Future Custody of Her Writings
It was quite natural, having come to her eighty-fifth year and to the final stage in her work, that she, her son William, and Elder A. G. Daniells, president of the General Conference, should be giving some consideration to the custody, on her death, of her writings, published and unpublished. The two men watched with keen interest whatever moves she should make in this direction, but it was a detached interest, for they felt that she herself must take the initiative and direct in steps taken. Both understood well that the Lord led her mind and she must be left untrammeled. Twenty years after her death, Elder Daniells wrote of this matter:
Several times during the later years of her life, Mrs. E. G. White expressed to me, and to others, concern regarding the future of her writings. She was anxious that her books already in print should continue to be widely circulated, also that a proper use should be made of the unpublished manuscripts that she would leave.
It was difficult at that time for me to understand this anxiety on her part. I tried to assure her of the deep interest our people had in her work, and of my conviction that when the time of which she made mention should come, the leaders would surely take such steps as were necessary to promote the circulation of her messages.
But such assurance did not satisfy her. She said that she had received cautions indicating that the leaders might become so
busy with administrative work that they could not give proper attention to the promotion of her particular writings.
And she feared that no one, except perhaps her son, Elder W. C. White, would adequately realize the need of bringing forth at the proper time such unprinted manuscripts as contained certain cautions and warnings the Lord had given her which would be needed in the closing years of our work. So for a number of years this burden rested upon her heart.--AGD statement, "Mrs. White's Legacy to the Trustees," March 11, 1935 (MR, p. 68).
This matter had not been left without some attention during her later years, but the steps she had taken thus far, which would leave the responsibility largely with her two sons, seemed inadequate, especially so in the light of the memorandum dealing with family relationships disclosed in 1911 and noted in the preceding chapter.
On January 31, 1912, W. C. White wrote to Elder Daniells about the matter, stating that he had spent the previous day in San Francisco conferring with Attorney Theodore Bell concerning a new draft of his mother's will. He stated:
Whenever Mother has considered the matter of a new will during the last two years, she has said that she felt that the matter would clear up in her mind. In view of this confidence on Mother's part, we have waited, without great anxiety, but I have repeatedly brought the matter to her attention, and have urged her to tell us wherein the draft prepared in 1909 was unsatisfactory.
From time to time she stated her wish regarding various points. These I noted down, and putting them together they were chiefly as follows:
A more liberal provision for Ella and Mabel, and Edson and me. [See Appendix B. "The Settlement of Ellen G. White's Estate."]
Permanent trustees, and a larger number of trustees who were intimately connected with her work.
Another provision Mother desired in the will was that the mission schools, white and colored, be remembered....
After shaping up roughly these ideas, we took the matter to Theodore A. Bell, and told him exactly what was aimed at in the will. He gave the matter some study, and worked out a plan that seems to us to be very good.
Instead of ordering that the real estate be sold as soon as possible, it is provided that the trustees shall have time to dispose of it to the very best advantage. An appeal is made to the creditors, to give time for the properties in the trust to pay up the claims.
The trustees that Mother has chosen are: W. C. White, C. C. Crisler, Arthur G. Daniells, Charles H. Jones, and Frank [Francis] M. Wilcox.
Executors, W. C. White and C. H. Jones.
On receiving this information from W. C. White, Daniells responded:
Yesterday I received your letter written at Hanford, January 31, in which you give me some information regarding your mother's will. I hope that when it is completed, it will be right. You know something of my solicitude regarding this, and why, so I need not add anything in this.--AGD to WCW, February 6, 1912.
At Work Through 1912
But Ellen White's work was far from completed. A little later in the year, W. C. White reported, regarding his mother's continuing interest in day-to-day work:
To those who are closely connected with Mother, it is very remarkable that in her age and feebleness she is able to give us such valuable counsel and direction regarding the book work. She does not mark the manuscripts very much, but here or there she puts in a word, a phrase, or a sentence to round out the thought or make it more emphatic, and every few days, when she is reading manuscript, she comes out to the office or calls Brother Crisler to her room and then she tells him the importance of searching for manuscripts making very clear and plain such and such features of the work.
White explained:
Oftentime when she calls attention to what she has written upon a certain subject, it is difficult at first for us to appreciate the bearing that this has upon the manuscripts already gathered, but Brother Crisler is faithful in making notes, and sometimes after Mother has called attention several times to some lesson she has written upon and emphasized its importance, Crisler makes another search in her manuscripts for material along the lines she has been pressing upon his attention, and in so doing, he finds choice matter which in the light of Mother's suggestions, he can use with the original manuscripts, making the subject much more complete.--WCW to AGD, August 26, 1912.
By mid-May, W. C. White could report:
We are making excellent progress with the work on Mother's book.... We hope that the heaviest part of this work will be completed in July.--WCW to AGD, May 14, 1912.
But in August they were still at work on the manuscript. In fact, only seldom does an author or compiler reach the goal he sets for himself in literary production, but White expressed the hope that the book could be printed before the forthcoming General Conference session scheduled for the spring of 1913. But even in this they failed (WCW to AGD, August 15, 1912).
Correspondence and Interest in Correspondence
In a May 13 letter to Edson, W. C. White, in describing their mother's waning strength, explained, "Instead of writing several letters a day as in the olden time, Mother writes only two or three a month nowadays."
Mother's health is quite changeable. Some days she reads a little too much, then does not sleep at night and the next day is very feeble. Perhaps the next night she will rest well and feel of good courage and ambitious the next day.
A few weeks later, Ellen White was writing to her close friends the Haskells:
I must write you a short letter today. I have begun several letters to you, but have not succeeded in finishing any. I hope you will not cease to write to me, even though I do not write often. I am always interested in your work, and always glad to hear from you.
We are all very busy, doing our best to prepare the new book for publication. I want the light of truth to go to every place, that it may enlighten those who are now ignorant of the reasons for our faith.--Letter 28, 1912.
While direct correspondence between Ellen White and workers and laymen in the field had ground almost to a halt, she did not lose interest in what was happening in the denomination. Her son shared interesting correspondence with her. As through the previous years, church leaders communicated with her largely through W. C. White. In one letter to Elder Daniells, White tells of how his mother and others had read his recent letters "with deep interest" (WCW to AGD, January 19, 1912). A few weeks later he wrote to Daniells:
I have several very interesting letters from you which I have read with much interest, as has Mother, Elder Irwin, and others who are connected with our work.--WCW to AGD, February 29, 1912.
Of a ten-page letter written in early May, he noted: "I can assure you that Mother and I were very glad to read what you have written."--WCW to AGD, May 14, 1912. Through the year 1912, Daniells wrote nineteen letters to W. C. White, and White wrote twenty-two to him; very often Ellen White was privy to this exchange of correspondence. Daniells opened his letter of December 31, 1912, with the words, "I was just squaring myself to write you another 'book of Daniel' when it was decided by our brethren here in Washington to call a special meeting of the General Conference Committee, to convene at Mountain View, January 19." So, he said,"As I shall see you soon, and have an opportunity, I hope, to talk with you about many things which I wish to place before you, I shall write little more at this time."
And we find evidence of Ellen White reading some of W. C. White's outgoing letters. On October 31, 1912, he wrote in a careful way to S. N. Haskell, countering the verbal-inspiration theory Haskell was inclined to. At the lower left-hand corner of the last page, Ellen White wrote with her pen: "I approve of the remarks made in this letter. Ellen G. White."
A Quiet, Uninterrupted Visit with His Mother
On Sabbath, June 15, W. C. White found his mother rested. Instead of attending church, he spent much of the morning and part of the afternoon with her, telling of the progress of the work, particularly at Loma Linda. During this conversation, White wrote down some things she said. Some of these disclosed rare insights:
"The Loma Linda institution, if conducted according to the will of God, will become the most important in its work of all our institutions throughout the world."
"Now is the time when we must do all that we can to see that every stone in the foundation of the Loma Linda enterprise is laid right."--WCW to AGD, June 16, 1912.
In the Sabbath-afternoon visit they discussed her often-expressed intention to visit Portland, Maine, once more. William pointed out to her that the trip would probably cost $500 and the injury that would come to the literary work in progress at Elmshaven would be more serious than a loss of $2,000.
He also enumerated some of the enterprises that they had in mind to take hold of as soon as the manuscript for the Old Testament history was completed. It exceeded somewhat her conjecture expressed earlier of the possibility of getting out "one more book."
He mentioned to her some of the books that were being called for--among them, a revision of Christian Education. This should not be confused with the book Education, published in 1903; rather, it was a 250-page volume drawn from E. G. White manuscripts and issued ten years earlier. Gospel Workers, published in 1892, was to be revised and enlarged. W. C. White then mentioned a "compilation of [the] Testimonies for translation into foreign languages, Experience and Views revised [Life Sketches of Ellen G. White], Story of the Health Reform Movement, Story of Labors in Europe, Story of Labors in Australia, Bible Sanctification revised, et cetera, et cetera" (Ibid.). It was quite an array of work looming before them.
Ellen White's response surprised and greatly pleased her son. She said that for a couple of weeks she had felt no burden to go to Portland in the coming summer. She declared:
"I am not able to make such a journey in my present state of health.... I feel that my time and strength must be devoted to my books. They will speak to large congregations over and over again after my voice is silent.
"Remaining here, I can attend nearby meetings, and if we consent to break our work for anything, it will be in time of necessity to help the work at Loma Linda."-- (Ibid.)
She had already made one trip south that year to attend three important gatherings in southern California held in close proximity: a union-wide ministerial institute, March 12 to 20; the session of the Pacific Union Conference, March 21 to 26; and the Loma Linda constituency meetings, March 27 to April 1. The latter had been followed by several days of board meetings.
The Spring Trip to Southern California
At ten o'clock Sunday morning, March 10, Ellen White and William, along with Sara McEnterfer and Helen Graham, had left Elmshaven, catching the Santa Fe "Angel" that evening from Oakland. They were met in San Bernardino a little before seven Monday morning and were taken by automobile to Loma Linda in time for breakfast.
W. C. White reports that as they were gliding along over the five miles of good road from San Bernardino to the Sanitarium he thought of his father and mother in 1846, 1847, and 1848, how they often traveled on canal boats because it was less expensive than the railway trains, if there was a choice; or drove with horse and carriage across the country, eating their cold lunches by the roadside. "How different it is now," he pondered, "with our thousands of friends, and our sanitariums with all their conveniences to care for us wherever we go!"--WCW to Marion Crawford, May 7, 1912.
Ellen White spent the next few days at Loma Linda and later in the week went to Los Angeles for the closing days of the ministerial institute. The meetings on Sabbath were held in the Temple Auditorium, one of the largest in Los Angeles. Many of the members of surrounding churches came in for the services. Elder Daniells spoke Sabbath morning, and Ellen White, Sabbath afternoon; she dwelt on the words of the Saviour to His disciples, that they should love one another (Pacific Union Recorder, March 21, 1912). She spoke again at the institute two days later.
After the ministerial meeting, the sixth session of the Pacific Union Conference was held in Los Angeles March 21 to 26. Ellen White spoke on Thursday, the opening day, and again on Sabbath. Elder E. E. Andross was called to the presidency of the union, and Elder G. A. Irwin, retiring, was made vice-president. Both were safe men as far as the medical school interests were concerned. On Tuesday, March 26, she returned to Loma Linda to be present for the constituency meeting, which opened the next morning.
She took quite an active part in both the constituency meeting and the meeting of the board that followed. Invited to address the constituency, she spoke Thursday morning, stressing unity in all features of the work of the church. Her remarks imply some threats to the work at Loma Linda. What she said was summed up in the minutes of the March 28 constituency meeting:
Mrs. E. G. White was present and spoke to the members of the constituency meeting for thirty minutes, emphasizing the fact that we are working for time and eternity. It is pleasing to see the spirit of unity that has characterized our councils. Unity is very important in order to accomplish the great work before us.... Be of one mind, of one heart, of one spirit. Come into unity. Don't strive to get up some new thing. Work together. Plan wisely and intelligently. Harmonize, harmonize. Bring the mind into harmony with God. Don't be driven from your position by somebody's notions. Work together. The Lord is working for us.--Constituency Meeting Minutes, March 28, 1912 (see also DF 5, Medical Practice and the Educational Program at Loma Linda, p. 125).
The same day, she joined in an interview regarding the purchase of more land at Loma Linda.
At the opening of the constituency meeting, Elder G. A. Irwin, the president of the corporation, had set forth three factors he considered positively essential if the medical school was to succeed. One of these, the factor he considered the most essential, was "steadfast adherence upon the part of the directors and medical faculty to the principles contained in the instruction upon which the institution was founded" (Ibid., 118).
Others involved in the work were of the same mind, which accounts for the place of importance given to Ellen White's words of counsel.
In the development of the medical school the point had been reached where provision had to be made for the clinical years of physician training. At first it was hoped that these needs could largely be met with the construction of a modest hospital at Loma Linda. Now it was clear that with the relatively sparse population in the area, the hospital at Loma Linda would be inadequate; they had to look to a populated area.
As the Loma Linda board wrestled with the problem, they were well aware of Ellen White's repeated advice that a sanitarium should not be located in Los Angeles. She was drawn in for counsel, and met with the board on the afternoon of April 4. W. C. White had discussed the matter of the clinical needs with his mother as they drove together that morning about the Loma Linda grounds. It now seemed overwhelmingly evident that the clinical work needed to be done largely in a center of population, and the question had narrowed down to a choice of going into Los Angeles for all of the clinical work or of doing part of the work at Loma Linda and part in Los Angeles.
Ellen White spoke up cheerfully and promptly, and said that that was the better way--to do part of the work here, and part in Los Angeles. Both in the conversation with her son and now with the board, she supported the proposition that the students get part of their experience at Loma Linda and part of it in Los Angeles (Manuscript 14, 1912). As W. C. White reported this in the Review and Herald sometime later, he put it this way: "She advised that we do in Loma Linda just as much of the work as could be done acceptably there, and carry the remainder to Los Angeles."--September 28, 1916.
After spending another week or two at Loma Linda, she returned to Elmshaven, where it was back to the book work with her reading manuscripts, writing, and occasionally filling speaking appointments. The first of these was at Pacific Union College, Sabbath, April 27; and then St. Helena the next Sabbath, at Napa on May 11, and on the eighteenth she was at Santa Rosa.
The Vision Concerning Recreation
The records for 1912 mention only a few visions given during that year, but there was one of considerable significance on the night of July 4. In 1912, the Fourth of July fell on Thursday. The management of St. Helena Sanitarium was concerned about keeping their patients and helpers on the grounds happy, and planned a well-filled day of patriotic activity and recreation. In the morning there was band music and a flag-raising ceremony, and in the afternoon a baseball game, which, according to reports, was played in a good spirit.
But in the evening there were some events of a different nature. Among the activities, of which musical renditions were a part, was a contest between two boys with blackened faces who, balanced on rails, endeavored to knock each other off with pillows. Another feature was a contest called "Slinging the Monkey." Each of three or four young men put his feet in a slip noose, the other end of which was tied to a ceiling beam. Walking on their hands they tried to see who could go the farthest before the rope swung them back. Then there was a pie-eating contest. Four fellows with their hands tied behind their backs ate custard and blackberry pies off the table (DF 249d, WCW to E. C. Kellogg, November 1, 1912).
The W. C. White children were at the party; the parents were not. Grace reported years later that her parents, Willie and May, were in bed by the time the children returned home. Ellen White at her Elmshaven home had retired much earlier.
When W. C. White stepped in to see his mother the next morning, he found her "perplexed and disheartened." She told him that she had slept but little the night before, and various scenes had passed before her. She felt too weak to talk about it then, but later in the day dictated a letter addressed to "The Sanitarium Family at St. Helena." On Sabbath morning, July 6, she asked for the pulpit at the Sanitarium church so that she might address the worshipers and read the letter written on Friday. As she stood in the pulpit in the chapel, with employees and guests before her, she began to speak:
I have felt an intense interest in regard to the directing of this sanitarium; and as we have considered the best course to pursue to bring the light of truth before the patients, I have earnestly desired that they should understand what is truth for this time. And I have felt some anxiety in regard to the youth in this institution. The example set at this place should be such as to reveal the uplifting principles of the Word of God, that those who come here may be led to follow fully the light of truth.
In the night season some matters were brought very clearly before me. A message was given to me for you.... Some things have been presented to me showing that we needed to come into a more sacred nearness to God. In the night season I was taken through the institution, and I heard some things and saw some things that were not pleasing to God. I do not know that others noticed them. If they did not, they will have to know, because everything done in this institution must be done to the glory of Him who established it.--Manuscript 49, 1912.
Picking up the transcript of her letter addressed to the Sanitarium family Friday morning, she read:
Last night after I had retired to rest, a strange depression came over me, and for a long time I was unable to sleep.
Then I seemed to be talking with companies of our people.... I was saying to them, "You do not need to plan for unholy amusements. When your life is hid with Christ in God, you will find in Him all the enchantment that you need." Words like these had been spoken to me.
As I passed from one group to another, I experienced disappointment after disappointment. There was revealed in each company a desire for foolish pleasure. Men and women, acting like children, seemed to have forgotten their responsibility to glorify God. I saw the foolish actions, and heard the foolish words that were spoken.
And I saw how the Spirit of God was grieved, and the Lord dishonored. While God and angels were working by every possible means for the upbuilding of the kingdom of heaven in earth in truth and righteousness, those who should have been standing as heaven's representatives were taking a low level and dishonoring their Redeemer's name.
I said to some, "You should bear in mind that as God's professed people you are called to reach a high standard. The Lord cannot be glorified by such a course as you are now pursuing. He bids us glorify Him in our body, and in our spirit, which are His.
"I do not know with what words to describe these scenes, or what character to give them; but I know that in participating in them you are lessening your influence for righteousness; you are displeasing the Lord; you are setting an example that none can safely follow."--Letter 32, 1912.
The letter she was reading continued in this vein, stressing the responsibility of sanitarium employees for setting a high standard in example, and the raising of the question of what influence for good could those who participated in such happenings have as they should pray at the bedside of patients who witnessed what had taken place. She mentioned that she saw angels standing by, writing.
I looked to see what they had written. I read these words: "None of these things will give you spiritual strength, but will lessen your influence for righteousness."-- Ibid.
After reading the six-page letter, she commented at some length and reminded the personnel of the institution:
We are here to minister to the sick and afflicted, to relieve their sufferings, and if possible, to win them to Christ. It is your privilege to seek to benefit all who come upon this ground. Nothing should be done on these premises that will in any way counteract the influence of the Spirit of God which should constantly abide here.--Manuscript 49, 1912.
It was a solemn meeting. There was no resentment, but a humbling of heart. Commenting on the experience the following Wednesday, W. C. White wrote:
The tenderness with which Mother introduced the matter and which accompanied her presentation of that which she had written impressed those present very much. In the afternoon we had an excellent social meeting in which many bore testimony expressing sorrow for a part which they had taken in the Fourth of July program, and many expressed gratitude to God that He had sent them a message of counsel and reproof. We are hoping that this will mark the turning point in the experience of our Sanitarium helpers.--WCW to E. E. Andross, July 10, 1912.
Not an Isolated Situation
Soon after this experience at the Sanitarium, W. C. White discovered that the question of recreation and sports was a live one in many places. Sarah Peck, now at Union College, wrote about the nonsensical "cheers" that had been developed to spur the athletic teams to "greater frenzy." From Keene, Texas, Prof. C. B. Hughes, the principal, wrote that while things seemed to be under control at the time, during the past two years the broom shop manager had had a terrible time keeping his workers at their jobs. Football and baseball games seemed to have a stronger appeal, and the games were so vigorous that one boy had his arm broken and several others suffered injuries that kept them from their work (DF 249d, C. B. Hughes to WCW, August 26, 1912).
The Fourth of July incident and the testimony written the next morning and these various reports encouraged the staff at Elmshaven to publish another Special Testimony, which they titled "Recreation" (see Sp. T, Series B, No. 21). The type was set at the "Elmshaven Press," and the printing was done at Mountain View. Its distribution and reading exerted a modifying influence in church ranks.
Only two or three weeks before this Fourth of July incident and the vision, Ellen White had sounded some cautions concerning the operation of swimming pools at Seventh-day Adventist institutions. This was in connection with W. C. White's Sabbath-afternoon visit with his mother on June 15. The students at Loma Linda had urged the construction of a swimming pool, to be financed and controlled by an organization of the students. The board had voted to investigate the Spirit of Prophecy counsels before proceeding with the proposition. Now W. C. White, a member of the board, put the matter before his mother. She responded:
"The swimming pool may be an advantage healthwise, but all along as proposals have been made in various places to provide swimming pools, it has been presented to me that there is great danger of the development of unfavorable and serious difficulties.
"In no case could I consent to a swimming pool being established which should be under the control of an organization of students. If there is to be a swimming pool, it should be fully under the control of the institution. Such an enterprise would need to be cared for by persons wisely chosen who will superintend the use of the place with Christian vigilance."--WCW to AGD, June 16, 1912.
Elmshaven in September
On September 17, W. C. White gave an illuminating word picture of what was happening at Elmshaven as he wrote to Elder Edward Forga, who was working in Spain. Forga had married May White's sister Marguerite, so by marriage there was a family connection.
"If you were here this morning," White wrote. "you would see Mother and Sara just starting out for a drive." Such trips took them past the orchards and vineyards and homes of farmers. On occasion, they would turn in and Ellen White would have a little visit with the housewife and children. If there was a known need, the visit might be accompanied with gifts of food or useful garments. The residents with whom she visited often were of Italian or French origin and were friendly. Years after her death, Ellen White was remembered by many in the valley as the little white-haired lady who always spoke so lovingly of Jesus.
In his letter to Forga, White continued:
Mother is gradually growing feeble, but keeps cheerful, and does not worry as I feared she would over the fact that she cannot write as much as in former days.
Miss Janie Workman, Wilfred Workman's sister, is now Mother's housekeeper. Miss Hawkins is a member of the family.... Mother has invited Crisler [whose wife had recently died] to board at her house. This will provide a man for the family. Crisler now works in a large room in the tank house, and will sleep in one room in the tank house, just over his office. The tank house is well built, and is four stories.
W. C. White also mentioned the office and its work:
In the office Brother Mason, Dores Robinson, Miss Steward, and Miss Hawkins are pursuing their regular lines of work.... In the little cottage between Mother's house and the barn, Mrs. Bree is working on the manuscript for the new edition of Christian Education [Counsels to Parents and Teachers], while her husband with the big farm team is hauling in a [freight] car of alfalfa hay which Brother James bought last week from near Woodland.
West of Mother's house in the edge of the oat field, we now have a large shed near the furnace where the prunes are dipped. Near the dipping shed more than a half acre of ground is covered with trays on which pears and prunes are drying. This morning, Brother James and Ellis, Henry and Herbert and two others, are making trays and hauling in prunes from the orchard. Gracie and Arthur, with six members of the James family, are in the orchard picking up prunes. There is a full crop of prunes this year--probably forty tons of green prunes, which will make about sixteen tons after they are dried.
Book Preparation
But the main thrust through the late summer months and the fall months was in book preparation. In May, Ellen White had written:
Just now, what strength I have is given mostly to bringing out in book form what I have written in past years on the Old Testament history from the time of Solomon to the time of Christ. Last year The Acts of the Apostles was put in print, and is being widely circulated; and now we are making good progress with this Old Testament history. We are advancing as fast as possible.
I have faithful and conscientious helpers, who are gathering together what I have written for the Review, Signs, and Watchman, [Reference here is to several series of articles in each journal, each on a particular topic.] and in manuscripts and letters, and arranging it in chapters for the book. Sometimes I examine several chapters in a day, and at other times I can read but little because my eyes become weary and I am dizzy. The chapters that I have been reading recently are very precious.--Letter 20, 1912.
At about this time W. C. White reported that she had read twenty-five or thirty chapters (WCW to AGD, May 14, 1912). The completed book had sixty chapters.
Ellen White's Last Visit to Loma Linda
Before the work on the manuscript for Prophets and Kings was finished, the time had come again for important meetings at Loma Linda. So Ellen White, W. C. White, Sara McEnterfer, and Clarence Crisler made the trip south on Wednesday night, November 6. Friday morning Ellen White addressed the board and the faculty, urging "good cheer" and reminding them that:
God's promises to us are so rich, so full, that we need never hesitate or doubt; we need never waver or backslide. In view of the encouragements that are found all through the Word of God, we have no right to be gloomy or despondent....
Many, many times I have been instructed by the Lord to speak words of courage to His people. We are to put our trust in God, and believe in Him, and act in accordance with His will. We must ever remain in a position where we can praise the Lord and magnify His name.--Manuscript 71, 1912.
Sabbath she spoke in the church, and at one noon hour she spoke to the students. She challenged the some sixty medical students, and another sixty in nurse's training, to high attainments:
Opportunities are before you; if studious and upright, you may obtain an education of the highest value. Make the most of your privileges. Be not satisfied with ordinary attainments; seek to qualify yourselves to fill positions of trust in connection with the Lord's work in the earth.
United with the God of wisdom and power, you may become intellectually strong, and increasingly capable as soul winners. You may become men and women of responsibility and influence, if, by the power of your will, coupled with divine strength, you earnestly engage in the work of securing a proper training.--Pacific Union Recorder, December 26, 1912.
Ellen White and Sara McEnterfer spent almost a full month at Loma Linda while W. C. White and Clarence Crisler attended to a number of matters in southern California, including a visit to Paradise Valley Sanitarium. She passed her eighty-fifth birthday quietly at Loma Linda.
On the journey north she spoke in Los Angeles; she reported that at the close of the meeting, friends and some of her old acquaintances expressed pleasure "that I could still speak with such clearness." "I was thankful that I had moved out in faith," she remarked, "for the Spirit of the Lord came upon me, and the grace of Christ sustained me."--Letter 2, 1912. This was the last time her voice was to be heard in southern California--a triumphant climax.
Later Life Brought No Despondency
As the year 1912 opened, she wrote to Edson: "Be of good courage.... The Lord is rich in resources." And she admonished, "Never write failure."--Letter 40, 1912.
In December she wrote encouragingly to her longtime friend George W. Amadon, for many years factory superintendent of the Review and Herald.
We received your letter, and I have only encouraging words to write you in reply. I can sympathize with you in your feelings of doubt and perplexity, for there are times when Satan seeks to bring to me the same trouble of mind, and I have to guard myself, that the tempter may not gain the advantage....
Brother Amadon, rest in the promises of God. When your mind is clouded because of physical weakness, do not try to think. You know that Jesus loves you. He understands your weakness. You may do His will by simply resting in His arms.... I send these words to you in the hope that they may bring courage and faith to your heart. Christ is all-merciful; and He is your Redeemer. He has not forgotten you.--Letter 44, 1912.
In this letter to a fellow worker some five years younger than she, we see reflected Ellen White's philosophy in her sunset years. There was no bitterness, no uncertainty, no despondency, only confident trust. She knew in whom she believed.